Keep Your Cool, Sammy
by CaseyIsMyValentine
Summary: Sammy and her friend's are going Extreme Trampolining but a series of distractions keep them from their original plans.


_**Keep Your Cool, Sammy**_

"Are you ready?" I called up the stairs to Marissa. She was taking forever. And when I mean forever I mean three hours to get ready for one little trip.

She finally came bounding down the steps in a gold and black velour tracksuit and matching golden pumps. I almost choked on the gum I'm chewing. "What are you wearing!" I demanded. "We're going Extreme Trampolining, Marissa! Not Extreme Fashion-Runway-ing, or whatever."

She rolled her eyes. "Who cares? I need to look good."

"Good schmood," I scoffed in my black Adidas shorts, tank top and high-tops. "I could care less how I look when I'm going to be jumping on a freaking huge trampoline all day."

"And killing off your braaiin cells," she sang absent-mindedly while filing her nails.

"I hope your nails break." I snarked as she grabbed her house purse and we headed out the door. "And I hope your heels break, too."

"You're a jerk. I hope your butt breaks."

"Whatever."

We were supposed to meet Holly and Dot at the mall and then go Extreme Trampolining. When I had handed Grams the waver that had said "We are not responsible for any injuries, etc" she almost said no but then I reminded her that my whole life practically needs a waver form, and it was like one of those "touché" moments for her.

Needless to say, she signed it. And now Marissa, Holly, Dot and I were going la trampolina extrema. Is that how you say it in Spanish?

When we arrived at the mall, Marissa texted Dot to find out where they were. "They're in Guess." she said.

"I don't want to guess." I groaned.

"No, they are IN Guess."

"What?"

"GUESS."

"NO."

"The STORE Guess, Sammy."

"Oh." I rolled my eyes. "How was I supposed to know that?" and so we went off to Guess. "So where are they?" I asked when we entered the posh store. A woman head-to-town in designer-wear gave me a dirty look. Or, she gave my clothes a dirty look. I returned the look along with a rude hand-gesture (F U) and she turned away in disgust. Good. Idiot.

"Look, there they are!" Marissa pointed to Dot who was ogling a pair of boots. Holly was looking extremely bored. They spotted us and Holly came over from Dot's boot-area.

"Can we go now?" I asked. Being in a room with so many different types of fabrics was making me claustrophobia. Call me crazy, but I think I'm allergic to expensive fabrics.

Holly shook her head exasperated. "No, Dot wants those boots. They're the last ones and she won't leave them until her dad comes and pays for them."

"Are you kidding? That could take a whole hour! She lives in Sisquane."

Marissa shrugged. "We can wait...those pants look cute..." she was eyeing a pair of pants. I kicked her shin.

"Ow!" she snapped.

I smirked. "Oops."

I went over to Dot. "Can't you just ask them to hold it?" I asked after discussing this with her for a few minutes. "We really need to go."

She shook her head. "They have an event today. They can't hold them." she then said, "You know what, you guys go on. I'll wait here and maybe I'll catch up later if I have time."

"You sure? We couldn't do that."

"Yeah, you'll miss your time anyway so just...go." she didn't even seem upset. She just seemed like she wanted those boots. I sighed.

"Well, if you say so. Bye."

And off we went. Me, Marissa, and Holly. Little did we know that was not the first distraction. On our way out form the mall, someone grabbed my from behind and screeched like a monkey into my ear. I screamed and was about to turn around and knock them out when I saw it was only Billy.

"Can you stop doing that every time you see me at the mall?" I snapped.

"Why, hello to you too, Sammy." he then nodded to my friends. "And company."

Marissa and Holly rolled their eyes. I joined their gesture.

Then I noticed Casey with him. He smiled and gave me a little wave. "Hey."

I opened my mouth to say hi back but Marissa, god. "Guess what? We're going Extreme Trampolining. Like, you know, the giant room with the floors and walls all on huge trampoline? Isn't that epic?"

"In those shoes?" Billy asked.

"I'll take them off." she said indignantly. Whatever you say, Marissa, whatever you say.

"Hey, we're not doing anything today, we should come along!" Billy nudged Casey. "What do you say?"

"Yeah, sureeee, invite yourselves, wouldja?" I rolled my eyes. "It's not like you need to sign a waver or anything." I added sarcastically.

Billy rolled his eyes. "And how in the world would the Extreme Trampolining place people know what my mom's signature looks like? For all they know, I'm David Beckham."

Casey snorted. I said, "You are NOT David Beckham. Jerk."

"But we ARE actors." Casey said. "Where do we get these wavers?"

"Either from online or their front desk."

Marissa reached in her purse. "Actually, I had printed some extras. Men...?" she handed be guys their wavers and a pen. Dang, the girl was prepared.

Casey and Billy started to have a lot of fun with that. "Hmm, maybe I should be an Australian male model?" Casey suggested. "Or I could be a British hockey player."

Billy said, "I want to be an Indian businessman."

"But you don't even look Indian." I pointed out.

He shrugged. "So? I could be adopted."

"You're not a man." Casey said to Billy. He then turned to me. "What do you think, Australian male model?"

"Underwear model." Marissa corrected. "They're hotter."

"Are you calling me hot enough to be an underwear model?" he grinned at her.

She shrugged. "Ask your girlfriend."

He turned to me. "What do you think, Sammy? Do I have the chops for being an Australian underwear model?"

I blushed. "Umm.."

"Hey!" Billy added. "You should be a GAY Australian underwear model."

"This is not some sort of acting convention!" I snapped finally. "Just forge some signatures and let's go! Jesus!"

"Okay," Casey said in an Australian accent. He set the waver sheet down on the bench and his pen was just hovering above the dotted line when he turned to me. "Right after a kiss."

I blushed all over again. "But you're gay." I finally stammered like an idiot. What are you thinking, Keyes? 'But you're gay'..? Really? You're his girlfriend, you shouldn't be afraid to kiss him!"

He sighed. "How about bisexual?"

"Fine." he grinned and I leaned forward and kissed his cheek quickly.

"Dude," Billy said, "Is that the only action you get from your own girlfriend of five months?"

"Since when were you counting how many months we've been going out!" I demanded.

He grinned. "Since month one." then he added, "So, is it?" to Casey again.

Casey rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure that's any of your business." he said. Because it really wasn't and Billy was kind of correct in a way. I mean, Casey and I kissed but sometimes he'd like, try to go further like makeout, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. Or I don't want to be. Or I don't know. Either way, the times that our kissing had gone from kissing to making out, I had always pushed away after a couple minutes and made some stupid excuse to leave or end it. I know, I'm a coward, what can I say?

Casey eyed me, probably thinking the same thing. His own girlfriend can't even kiss him without feeling awkward. Well, fine, if they all thought I was that much of a refined loser... I leaned forward and gave Casey a fierce kiss on his lips. I could practically feel him grinning as I kissed him. Stupid Billy whistled.

I pushed away from Casey and stormed over to Billy. "Now what were you saying?" it wasn't a question, it was a threat. He gulped and quickly began forging the signature, probably to avoid any more eye contact with me.

After they were finished forging, we all took off to Extreme Trampolines.

Holly didn't really talk much and I realized that it was because she didn't know Casey and Billy as well as Marissa and I did. Hasn't hung out with them as much. So I tried to include her in the conversation too but she kept trying to shut herself out. Whatever floats her boat in her moat.

The walk to Extreme Trampolines is actually pretty long, that's why I was in such a hurry in the morning. Marissa kept complaining about her heels.

"Billy, can we switch shoes?" she asked.

"No, I don't do pumps." he countered. "Besides, they totally don't match my outfit!" he added in falsetto. She stomped on his foot for that one. "Ow!"

Next she asked Casey. "Casey, can I borrow your shoes?"

"Not sure if they'd fit you." he grinned. "And not sure I'm a size 8 for girls, either."

Out of purse curiosity I asked, "What size are you?"

"Like a seven for guys." he said. Then he added, "You?"

I was a size 7 girls which is considerable smaller than a boys seven. A 7 for boys in a 10 or 11 for girls, which is normal for guys, I guess. I stopped a moment and checked the bottom of my high-tops. High-tops sizes only stated the guy size of the shoe. "I'm a four for guys." I said. "And a seven girls."

"Dang, you've got small feet." Billy said staring down at my shoes.

"Not really," I said.

"Actually, he's right. Eight is usually the average size for our age." Marissa said to me.

"And shut up is usually the average thing for a Marissa to do." I snapped. It made no sense at all, but I felt good saying it. I really don't like talking about myself, even about my shoe size.

Marissa went back to complaining. "Sammy, can WE switch shoes?"

I almost started laughing. "Yeah, right, and can you hula dance for me?"

Obviously the girl has no self-respect. She stopped in her tracks and started hula-dancing in the middle of the sidewalk for me. Billy joined in and gestured for Casey to come along.

Casey scratched his head. "Can underwear models hula dance?" he asked.

Holly took this moment to speak up, I could have punched her. "Yeah, they can, but they have to be shirtless."

Casey shrugged and stripped his shirt off and began hula dancing. It was so ridiculous and embarrassing to watch my friends do this that I turned away, my face burning. People who were walking by were beginning to stare. And girls were pointing at Casey, who looked incredibly hot shirtless, even if he looked kind of like a fool hula dancing.

"Stop!" I finally snapped. I grabbed Casey's shirt off the ground and handed it back to him. "Do you have any shame? Put this back on!"

"Okay, over-controlling girlfriend." he joked. He tugged the shirt back on over his head and I sighed.

"Can you guys be normal? Why am I the only normal one in the midst of fools?" I grabbed Casey hand just so he wouldn't think I was a total refined freak.

We all began walking again and Marissa kept her complaining. "I danced for you Sammy, now give me your high-tops."

"I didn't say I'd—"

"You did make a deal." Billy said grinning, clearly enjoying this.

Even Holly grinned evilly. "Yeah, you did."

"No I didn't! It wasn't a deal!"

"It kind of was." Casey said.

"Casey!" I gasped. I yanked my hand away from the traitor's. Finally I bent down and yanked off my high-tops. "You're a jerk." I said to Marissa as we switched shoes. Fortunately, I have experience walking in heels so that wasn't the problem. The problem was that it hurt like hell. After five minutes of us walking and talking, I couldn't stand it anymore. I yanked the shoes off and began storming along barefoot. They had looked ridiculous on me anyway. Golden pumps and Adidas shorts? I'm no fashion expert but I know I probably looked like a fool.

I walked along barefoot after stuffing the shoes into Marissa's tote. She was clearly enjoying walking in too-small-for-her high-tops anyway. Jerk.

"How much longer? How far away is this? Why didn't we skateboard?" Billy was the one complaining now.

"Is it your turn to complain?" I asked sarcastically. "Sorry, I didn't realize."

He ignored that comment. "How long?"

"Um, well a) probably like ten minutes more, sorry, and b) we didn't ride our skateboards because Marissa doesn't have anything to ride on anymore. And c) the long walk will be worth it when we're finally trampolining, you know."

He grumbled some more and finally shut up. The sidewalk was burning up my feet but I wasn't about to start being the next person who complained. I had my wimp-like stage that one time in the summer when I went backpacking, and I definitely do not want to relive any moments of me acting like a wimp or complaining. My new self-motto is "TOUGH". So when the going the going gets tough, well, TOUGH. Alright.

Suddenly, as if Mother Nature wasn't already being a big enough bitch, the clouds started rumbling and the sky was dark and covered with gray clouds. About three second later, a downpour of rain followed.

"Crap!" yelled Casey. "What the heck!"

I think when it starts to rain, a gorgeous guy like Casey shouldn't be complaining because it's just one more excuse for them to take their shirt off. No, a girl like me, who is wearing a white tank top that sticks to every curve and bump on my skin, should be the one complaining.

But I didn't. Billy hollered and hooted and pulled his shirt off, doing some sort of Indian war-dance in the rain. He also yanked his shoes off as if that made him any more sane. Casey didn't start hollering but he did take his shirt off. Marissa, who was wearing a track suit, just pulled the hood over her head, grumbling a lot. Holly pulled her sweatshirt hood up. I cross my arms across my chest because my black bra was totally noticeable underneath the wet white tank top. The rain was coming down fast and heavy, giving no mercy to any of us. My hair splatter across my face and I pushed it all behind my neck, screaming on the inside but clenching my teeth on the outside. I was also aware that my shorts were probably sticking to my butt. If that made my day any better.

Billy whistled at me. "Look at you, all shameless."

"Shut up." I would have punched him but my arms were too busy covering my chest.

Now I don't think I even remotely have anything to be worth staring at, but that didn't stop Casey from sneaking glances at me. But I didn't say anything because I was sneaking glancing at him too. I mean he was shirtless and wet, what more does a girl want to see? Okay, I sound like a total freak, but I'm sorry, I may be refined and not ready to have a full-out make out session yet, but I still have hormones. Jeez.

Anyway, Marissa offered me her tracksuit hoodie a couple times but I refused because I know she had an even thinner, tighter tank top underneath that and best friends don't inflict this type of humiliation on other best friends.

We finally reached the Extreme Trampoline place. It couldn't have taken any longer.

I've never heard Casey say any really horrible swear words before, but when he was the one who headed to the door to read a small-printed sign, we all heard his snap, "FUCK!" from all the way 20 feet away.

"You're boyfriend has a nice vocabulary." Holly said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and marched over, barefoot and wet with my shirt sticking to every inch of my skin, to Casey. "What?" I demanded.

"Because of the huge storm coming, they closed early today." you can hear the pissed-off tone I'n his voice.

The rest of the group joined us. Thunder rumbled in the sky, lightning flashed, almost blinding me. I had just walked miles with bare feet on the burning hot sidewalk. It had started raining. My wet clothes was embarrassingly revealing every part of my body I didn't want Casey to be aware of just yet. And on the subject of Casey, he was standing besides me shirtless, making things even more awkward. Marissa has my high-tops on, which we probably going to squelching wet all week now. Dot wasn't even here. Our whole day was ruined because the place shut down.

NOW would be the breaking point. NOW would be the time when I could freak out on everyone and have a mental breakdown or something. NOW would be the moment when I start complaining about everything and list every horrible moment

But I didn't.

Instead in my head, I yelled "TOUGH." and then I thought, "Keep your cool, Sammy. Keep you cool. Keep your cool." my temples started throbbing with a major headache. I clenched my jaw and breathed in deeply through my nose and out my mouth. I clenched and unclenched my fists. Everyone was waiting for my reaction, I could just tell. They all had slightly frightened and bewildered expressions on their faces, ready for me to start screaming or punching them or something.

Keep your cool, Sammy.  
>Keep your cool.<br>Keep. Your. Cool.

Casey wrapped his arm around my wet waist and squeezed, probably to keep me at bay. Probably so if I decide to freak out he could keep me anchored. "You okay?" he asked in my ear softly.

Was it _that_obvious that I was having a mental freak out? I rubbed my temples. Finally I looked up at everyone who were probably already planning their escape from my wrath.

"Guys..let's just..." I looked around. It was still raining. The walk back home could take hours due to the weather and our condition. "Let's just...dance." I finished lamely.

Marissa let out a nervous laugh. Casey grinned and Billy whooped. Holly just kinda smiled.

"Sounds good to me." Casey said, grabbing my hand and twirling me around. Billy grabbed Holly since Holly obviously wasn't going to dance on her own. Marissa started hula-dancing again.

Casey pulled me away separate from my crazy friends. I blushed. "Sorry I was such a freak today." I said.

He shook his head and leaned down, pressing his forehead to mine. "Nah, I figured you were either PMS-ing or having a really bad day."

I blushed again. But his face was so close. I didn't reply, I just said, "Mmmsshh."

Finally he laughed and pulled me closer by my waist, kissing me. We kissed for like, what? Five minutes straight and I wasn't even pulling away like I always used to. Thank god we were out of view from Marissa and Billy and Holly. Finally we pulled apart and he grinned. "Alright, let's to back and dance."

My throbbing head was gone. So was my bad mood. Instead, in it's place was a new sort of feeling. Maybe being spontaneous, ridiculous, and crazy wasn't so bad after all. If it meant kissing my totally gorgeous and amazing boyfriend, and just having wild fun with my crazy friends. Who, despite their embarrassing notions, were my friends.

And I love them.  
>And I love this.<p> 


End file.
